Night Terrors
by drunken.anecdotes
Summary: "I woke up and he was screaming, I left him dreaming. I'll roll over and hold on tightly. And whisper, 'If they want you, they're gonna have to fight me". Sleep can be foreign to some.  oneshot, AU, Post-War. H/Hr however you want to their relationship


**Permanent Disclaimer**: I don't own shit but the plot. Don't own the song, nor the characters. Laura Marling and JK Rowling do, respectively.

**A/N**: Normally I wouldn't write for this pairing, but I thought it fill well. I really recommend listening to this soft tune while reading this. It really sets the mood. Marling has a really soft voice, and the song is just eerie and haunting with the violins and it's simplicity.

[AU, Post-War, H/Hr, Romance or Friendship/Hurt/Comfort (however you want to see it), Angst]

Based off: "Night Terrors" by Laura Marling

* * *

"I woke up and he was screaming,

I left him dreaming.

I'll roll over and hold on tightly

And whisper, 'If they want you, they're gonna have to fight me"

It was almost always the same once night rolled around. We had all thought it would end once the War was over. For everyone else it had, at least for the most part. We had never thought it would last this long... Five Years... And no one had known. He hadn't said a word of it. But of course he wouldn't. That's just how Harry was; never wanting to burden anyone.

I knew though. After the War, after all the deaths, after what Harry went through. No one would come out unscathed. And no one did. Especially Harry.

It was after his phone call that I came over and experienced it first hand. He was scared, and needed someone there with him. I was all he had left.

Ron had decided that he wanted to leave Britain for a while and travel around, enjoy life for a bit on his own. It has been over three years now and he's yet to come back. Apparently he's no longer alone in his travels, and is now seeing a girl he met in some country or another. We don't receive many owls from him anymore. As for Harry, he wanted space away from the Wizarding World and the many reminders it contained, and so resides in a comfy flat near the city, living off his inheritance until he decides to continue Auror Training again. I stayed in the Wizarding World, not wanting the past to control me, and am now working in the Ministry, trying to reverse the damage caused by years of corruption.

And that leaves me where I am now. In bed after yet another phone call, holding Harry as he has yet another night terror. It's been like this for weeks now. I would come over and we'd sleep in his bed together... just waiting for him to fall asleep. He would hold me in the beginning, but it always ended up me holding him. Me trying to wake him, shaking him, screaming for him to wake up.

To just fight a little more, so it could end and he could be free from whatever was causing him so much pain. So much terror.

And he would eventually wake, crying into my chest as we held each other.

Him crying from his night terrors, and me crying because I'm so scared for him, and because I love him so much and I can't do anything to help him but be there for him, so he wouldn't be alone when the monsters leave.

And then he would fall back asleep after all his tears are shed, and I would stay awake just praying to whoever would listen that this be the last time. It never was.

I would always ask Harry what he could remember, but he never could, and even if he did I doubt he would tell me regardless. That's just how Harry was.

This particular night terror is different though. He's not convulsing, nor is he screaming. He's just crying, turning his head side to side, repeating over and over "Please, not them! Take me please! Not them! PLEASE! No! NO! PLEASE!"

I start crying. I don't know what he's seeing, but I don't care. I don't want whatever it is to take him. I hold him tighter. His cries soften. He's stops for a while, and I think that maybe it's over.

Harry turns his head towards my own, his eyes still closed and tears still sliding down his face, and in a low voice says, "Please... Take me. Please..."

I can't stand it anymore. They can't have him.

I crawl closer to him, holding him tightly, and whisper in ear, hoping beyond hope that Harry can hear me.

"If they want you, they're gonna have to fight me".

Harry wakes a few hours later. Tear streaks dried on his cheeks. The same on my own. And we just lay there, holding each other. I feel his heart still racing, deep breathes being taken as his arms tighten around me.

"Thank you, Hermione"

And I just hold him tighter, knowing that this isn't the end of his battles. Not by a very long shot, but he isn't as alone as he thinks he is. He might have to fight within his own head with whatever was holding him hostage to his own slumber, but he isn't fighting alone. I'll be here every night until Harry's back, and Harry knows that. I won't stop fighting.


End file.
